Carlo Ancelotti MASTERMIND…
The Premier League, the Champions League and Carlo Ancelotti. Over the years, Carlo Ancelotti evolved from a great football player to a great football manager.
He played as a midfielder and began his career with the Italian club AC Parma, helping the club to Serie B promotion in 1979. He moved to AS Roma the following season, where he won a Serie A title and four Coppa Italia titles, and played for the late 1980s Milan team, with which he won two league titles and two European Cups, among other titles.
At international level, Don Carlo played for the Italy national team on 26 occasions, scoring once, and appeared in two FIFA World Cups, finishing in third place in the 1990 edition, as well as UEFA Euro 1988, where he helped his nation to reach the semi-finals.
Carlo Ancelotti started his managerial career at Regianna, but his big hit came later with AC Parma. Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianfranco Zola, Enrico Chiesa and Hernan Crespo, among others, have played under Carlo Ancelotti’s leadership at AC Parma.
After an interlude at Juventus, Don Carlo moved to AC Milan in November 2001. He won the Champions League in 2003 and 2007, missing out on the trophy in 2005 as Liverpool pulled out a miraculous comeback.
After a few seasons at Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, Carlo Ancelotti has been appointed manager of Real Madrid.
And this tenure is what we are interested in.
In real life, he has done wonders with Los Blancos and has managed to turn world class superstars into indisputable champions.
Of course, he went back and forth with Real Madrid, leaving and returning, but the class remained. Changing players and eventually, changing his tactics as well.
Starting with a 4-2-3-1, moving to a 4-4-2 and eventually settling for a 4-3-3. The 4-3-3 was a staple for his Real Madrid team right until this season.
When chance made it that Karim Benzema has received and took a huge offer from Saudi Arabia, leaving Carlo Ancelotti to try and mastermind a more or less strikerless formation.
Of course, Real Madrid do have strikers, most notably Joselu who turns out to be a good player. However, his preferred formation this season is a 4-4-2 without a designated striker.
The midfield diamond is designed to trap the opposition and release the wingers to attack on goal. Turning the wingers into strikers instead.
The midfield diamond is thought to keep the ball moving and force the opposition to press, turning the midfield play into a rondo with jokers on the side.
To employ this kind of tactic, you need quality midfielders, who are cultured in defence and in the passing game. And agile wingers, with flair, who can spring into attack in an instant when the opportunity arises.
In goal, we have a sweeper keeper on defend as the back line will be fluid, so the keeper should make sure to screen his line when needed.
In front of him, a back four of two wing backs and two ball playing defenders make up the defence.
The wing backs are on attack as trapping the ball in the center requires options available on the flanks.
The two wing backs presence in attack when the team is in possession will turn the attacks into a 5 men shape.
In front of the defence, the base of the diamond is an anchor. This player must be defensively stout and must have quality passing attributes.
His main task is screening the defence and become the 3 men at the back when in possession, but there are expectations of him getting involved in the passing game if the game moment should require it.
In front of him, two roaming playmakers make up the diamond’s edges. These two players are thought to serve the two lengths of the field, making sure the ball is distributed on the flanks if the game moment requires it.
And the final third is made of two wingers and a shadow striker, the top of the diamond. He is the hidden striker and the false midfielder. This player should be as close as possible to Jude Bellingham’s attributes. After all, Don Carlo has adapted his whole tactical system to fit in this player and the role.
Whatever you do, at whatever level you manage, if you choose this tactic, make sure this player is your most gifted one in the team.
On the flanks the two wingers perform the inside forward on attack roles. Their responsibility is to cut inside with or without the ball and turn into the strikers of the team.
The front three is your main goal threat and the rest of the team is their support.
Every pattern your team creates should culminate in any of these three players scoring or threatening the opposition’s goal.
As player instructions, the wing backs will be told to stay wider and the front three will be told to roam from position. Thus, giving fluidity to the tactic.
Positive mentality and in possession, fairly wide, overlap on both flanks, shorter passing directness and standard tempo. As crosses, low, as we don’t have a designated target in the box.
Play for set pieces, to exploit the opposition when they are giving away this kind of moments.
Run at defence and be more expressive.
In transition, counter-press, counter and distribute quickly by rolling it out.
Out of possession, high press with a higher defensive line and press more often.
By design, this tactic is created for elite teams. However, an elite team could also be the best one in its league. As long as you match the players with the roles, the tactic should help you dominate the games.
This tactic was one of the most successful ones for me in any Football Manager edition lately. It has made my team go from the best of the rest to the best among all.
We have won the Premier League, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FA Community Shield. And were the runners up in the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.
Of course, trophies don’t tell the whole story. We have scored the most and conceded the fewest goals in the league.
While Victor Osimhen was our top goal scorer with 21 goals, from an advanced midfield position.
Carlo Ancelotti’s class is seen once again through this tactic and it can turn your team into the best one around.
